FARM & COMMERCIAL.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2266, 28 September 1914, Page 8

FARM & COMMERCIAL.

war .'REVIEW OF SEASON'S :■•;''•■■■ PROSPECTS. (By Telegraphs-Press Association:) ■.:■'."': '""..-"".'■ t 'J '?: ;■'■ Timaru, September' 26.'.. At the aniiiiarmeetinj; of the Farmers' Co-operative Association only a few'huii- . dreds out' of-'3562 shareholders were procent. The'sales' for tho year at Timaru .. and sub-brau'o'hcs exceeded a million and a,quarter. Tho amount available for distribution; was £35,296. When'is.suing the•; report some time ago, the' directors proposed,-in.view of the war, to declare,': -but-.withhold,,the payment of the bonuses. To-day'the chairman stated that-.the aspect of the war . had altered, and it was, proposed to flay .bonuses; as ; :usual. The, dividends 'are 6 percent, on • preference, 8 per cent, -on ordinary, shares; bonuses, 5 per, cent, on sales,-'and 4 per cent, on salaries. V The chairman (Mr. J. Talbot)/ in a review of the oiitlook, said that in spite "of the.response: tq Mr. Massey's ■ appeal to .'put'in more wheat,' he. doubted whether enough would .he grown to-meet the. country's for.the rest of the' year...'-.Wheat-growing-.had de,crease3;''for:'soveral reasons, one'of the most important-being the imports from Australia, where wheat and flour were produced moro cheaply than here. This .Would result-in serious trouble should. Australia have a. shortage as decasionnlly. happens. As to wool,' lie anticipated that there, would be ho local sale .till January, and lower prices, as tho only competitors were the Bradford and Do-minion-mills. The association is paying half-salary to sixteen employees who have gone to the front. The directors had voted £50, and the .staff .£254, 'to the Patriotic Fund, and the meeting to-day voted ' £100 to the; Home and Belgian Relief Fund.. ,